The Troubadour, New Orleans

The new New Orleans.

About four blocks from the white-gloved gastronomy and cobblestone carousing of New Orleans’s historic Vieux Carré, the city’s Central Business District is parlaying an excess of concrete and distinct lack of character into a spirited cultural revival—and the Troubadour is leading the way.

Standing 17-storeys high on an underdeveloped corner of the CBD, this sleek and stylish 184-room hotel is championing a new class of laissez-fare by creating a contemporary alternative to the shabby-chic, old-world charisma of the bygone Big Easy. The Troubadour is the first Southern property of boutique hotel group Joie de Vivre, and the former office building’s gleaming façade—the work of New Orleans-based Campo Architects—belies its retro-glam interior.

The hotel’s spacious Troubie Suites are colourful and artfully featured, mixing warm tones and natural accents with a disco-mod aesthetic. The bathroom beckons with a roomy rain shower, Jonathan Adler shampoos and seersucker bathrobes, while the mini bar is supremely stocked with locally sourced pralines, top shelf liquor in a vintage Igloo fridge, and plastic cups for cocktails on-the-go.

This sleek and stylish hotel is championing a new class of laissez-fare by creating a contemporary alternative to the shabby-chic, old-world charisma of the bygone Big Easy.

Beyond bedrooms, the Troubadour was built with a modern breed of New Orleans-style socialites in mind; you’ll find no Sazerac swilling or chintzy accoutrements here. The functional lobby was not designed for lingering (although it’s notably replete with chatty and attentive staff) but as a means of ingress into the hotel’s other action-packed offerings.

The Troubadour’s signature bistro, the 64-seat Petit Lion, is helmed by local chef Phillip Lopez, and offers informal French fare such as chicken bonne femme amidst a whimsical setting of copper-mesh curtains and kissing poodle salt and pepper shakers. Those waiting for a table will find real-life troubadours and craft cocktails in the lounge a floor above, but that’s a mere pit stop when compared to the Troubadour’s true crowning glory: Monkey Board.

An inviting rooftop roost of faux graffiti walls and psychedelic textiles, Monkey Board is where the locals gather to enjoy DJ-spun beats, a refreshing Alpine Slush, and an aptly-named Big Ass Pretzel in the sunset glow of the Crescent City skyline. An ever-changing program keeps things fresh at this top-floor hot spot, and it’s not uncommon to stumble into a crawfish boil or birthday fete featuring a confetti-encrusted cake.

Despite its historic backdrop, the Troubadour prefers an abstract and deconstructed Big Easy experience to the traditional airs of its French Quarter counterparts, creating a space which seems to say “welcome to a new New Orleans.”